Ford Crown Victoria/Mercury Grand Marquis Brakes

Hi! I just joined this site because I am having trouble with my beloved GM. The garage is not able to reproduce my problem and don't know what is wrong, so I am hoping that somebody here may know.

After my last service, I was happily driving around, until I came to a traffic light. All of a sudden my car stopped, as if it had bumped into something. The wheels were completely locked up, and I had to put it in reverse to get it moving again.

I brought the car back to the garage, and they cleaned the brakes, but could not find any problems, or reproduce this behavior. So I took the car back.

For a week and half, the car was fine. Then, this weekend, something similar happened. This time the car didn't fully lock up, but there was a loud bang, and it felt like some brakes were being engaged. I could drive on, but it felt like there was some friction. This happened about 7 times this weekend.

Back to the service station --- and again they cannot reproduce it. So I am hoping anyone here has any idea what this is, or maybe someone even had the same problem. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

To reiterate: it happens when I'm driving quite slowly (driving towards a stop sign --- I live in a small town where quite a few people still stop for these --- or a traffic light). Suddenly I hear a loud bang, and it feels like some kind of brakes are engaged.

My intial guess would be that you have one or more worn out calipers and that they bind when you first apply the brakes and then abruptly clamp the disc (causing a bang and a sudden brake application). The caliper pins can rust and cause the calipers to bind. If you live up North having rusty calipers on a car with 92K miles is not an uncommon problem.

You can visually inspect the caliper pins by removing the wheel(s). Also, with the car jacked up, the front wheels should turn easily before you apply the brakes. You should then be able to apply the brakes (with the wheel off) and see the caliper evenly clamp down on the disc. If it binds and then "jumps" that is good indication you need to rebuild them. It's little more problematic to check the rears but it is do-able.

Here is a link to a site with some good brake info on our cars (front brakes in this case). The pictures might prove useful to see what you are looking for...

Hey how is everybody? I've got a 1999 MGM. I recently replaced front and rear pads and rotors. Now The abs traction control lights are going on and off. Sometimes just before coming to a stop the abs kicks in. Any help would be great. Thanks.

I got a 96 grand marquis, 58k, and recently (last 2 months) a strange noise appeared, coming from the right side, possibly the rear right wheel. The noise sounds like a loud clicking and it shows up when I brake, but only just a moment before I come to a full stop. As soon as the car starts moving at low speed it might click a few more times, and as I accelerate it goes away. Is this related to the brakes, like brake pads being worn down, or is it something else? Help is appreciated

Have the same problem. It is the traction control energizing inappropriatly. Our GM has been doing this off and on for several years - no one, even FORD can fix it. It spent several days at the dealer, hooked up to a computer and they fixed it for about a year - by nthen it was off warentee.

It now has over 200,000 miles on it and we will keep it foreveras o ur spare.

We bought a 2003 GM (and kept this one also) but that had a button to turn on or off the traction control.

i have a 96 crown victoria LX and i have a problem with the brakes almost averytime im coming to a stop the brakes make a noise just like the airbag compressor and it kicks the pedal back i have 2 step on it hard it seems like when i push the brake the calipers want 2 open back up and sometimes the abs light comes on what could be the reason the calipers, master cylinder, or what

Sounds like you have a problem with a wheel sensor or a toner ring. When you step on the brakes the computer looks at the sensor and toner rings at the wheels. The sensor could have a break in a wire or you could have a cracked toner ring giving your computer a false reading. That would tell your computer to engage the "Hold release apply cycle" which is the noise your hearing. I took my car to Meineke and they had it fixed in a day. The shop would need a good scanner and a good Tec. My does. So the first thing you need to do is get the car scanned by some one who knows how to interpret what he's reading.

Hello, I'm trying to figure out if my son's 85 GM has a leak or a faulty master cylinder.He lost all pedal and the fluid was down all the way. Topped the fluid off and pumped the brakes,no pedal and fluid level stayed the same.Any answers out thyere? Thanks. :confuse:

If the fluid was way down, chances are 95% there's a leak in the system. In rare cases, the power brake booster can suck up fluid from the master cylinder and burn it, but that is rare, and there are many hints that this is happening, as the engine often smokes and protests.

You'd have to get under and examine for leakage at each of the 4 wheels, for starters.

It's also rare, but possible, that the master cylinder can leak down under the brake pedal and seep into the carpeting, but again, one would tend to smell this or see it.

Several times our 2005 GM has seemed to stop decelerating suddenly while braking. It happened again today with my daughter driving. She had the brakes to the floor and the car surged ahead three times, as if the brakes were released then reapplied, almost ramming into the car ahead.

Some months earlier, my wife was braking and the car wouldn't stop. She shifted the auto transmission into park to stop the car. We had the car serviced and the brakes "fixed," but the braking problem is intermittent.